For shame we can’t say the Thunder’s well rested coming into this back-to-back game against the Bulls. But because of a crappy finish against the Warriors, Oklahoma City’s starters had to play their usual fill of heavy minutes and now will get a rested Bulls team on the road. Keep Reading…

It looks like Thunder rookie Cole Aldrich has been recalled by the team. Aldrich tweeted Monday morning, “Airport. Heading to Chicago to get back with the fellahs.”

There hasn’t been an official release yet, but I assume Aldrich isn’t pranking everybody. He spent almost two weeks in Tulsa and appeared in five games for the 66ers. In 27.4 minutes a game, he averaged 7.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.

Aldrich saw some much needed floor time in Tulsa and was sent down to develop some of his offensive game while also hopefully using the time to grasp some of the Thunder’s offensive and defensive system. It might not be the last time Aldrich is sent to Tulsa this season.

But with D.J. White out with an ankle sprain and Nick Collison sitting out of Sunday’s game against Golden State, the Thunder is probably looking to rebuild some depth on the front line. Aldrich might not see any immediate playing time, but he’s back with the team and at least available.

Anthony Macri of HoopsWorld with some Thunder analysis: “It seems a feature of the young Thunder squad to constantly be on the attack – an attribute that will serve them well as they grow and mature. While it may occasionally get them into trouble against the best defensive teams in the league–forcing drives into strong defensive teams tends to yield bad shots and turnovers–it will serve them well against the rest.”

Amar from SLC Dunk says don’t believe the hype with the Thunder: “You know all about potential, right? The post-RUN TMC Warriors had loads . . . or AI’s Nuggets . . . or the Dubs . . . or Webber’s Kings . . . or like LeBron in Cleveland, and so on. Think upon this before signing your life savings into the ‘savior’ of the NBA Kevin Durant. Remember we used to think that Kobe, LeBron, and Bosh had no faults when they were young too! Hope and optimism elevate the Thunder to adoration they have yet to deserve. In my language, this is hype. What’s that Chuck D?” Keep Reading…

I kept telling myself that this game was never going to be in doubt. As the Thunder’s lead kept shrinking from 21 to 13 to eight to five and finally all the way down to three with under a minute left in the fourth, I didn’t feel like Oklahoma City was about the blow the game.

The fans in the arena obviously felt that way too as they kept filing out. Heck, I think the team didn’t think there was any way this game would get anywhere near close. They sort of checked out with about eight minutes left.

But the Warriors are a team that can make shots and make them in a hurry. I remember one of the games against them last season in OKC where we saw almost exactly the same thing. But I’m not going to lie, while I didn’t really think the Thunder would lose, I wasn’t exactly sure they’d win either. It’s a weird feeling to be unsatisfied with a good home win, but that’s kind of what happens when a 23-point lead gets blown. Especially when the Thunder has another game Monday night and had the opportunity to rest some starters in the fourth quarter here. Keep Reading…

(Happy Saturday Thunderers. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! /RussellWestbrook’d)

I would say, the very best mixer of Thunder videos out there is Yude Productions. All of their videos are stellar and the latest one is no exception. It’s a review of October/November which should pretty much be known as the Month of Russ. And the song selection is a nice touch. Enjoy.

If at any point you started wondering, “I wonder how good this team would be without Kevin Durant? Like, how valuable is he really?” then this game was a good answer for you. In the second half, Oklahoma City’s offense was just clueless. The Thunder had no idea where to look for points.

And they can get away with that sometimes. For instance, against New Jersey, the Thunder’s offense wasn’t that great. It stalled at times when Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green weren’t scoring. But OKC defended. They defended from the opening tip to the final third overtime buzzer.

But against the Raptors, the defense was light. Wait, light probably isn’t the right word. I think “terribleawfulsobad” is the word I’m looking for. Toronto has a list of good shooters and OKC’s defenders left them wide open a number of times. Then when the Thunder would get a stop, they didn’t secure a rebound or they fumbled the ball away. It really just wasn’t the Thunder’s night. Keep Reading…